Proposed Research

Funds
are requested to facilitate the analysis of data acquired
in a pilot
experiment to assess the feasibility of studying horizontal dispersion
and vertical mixing in high energy environments by mapping
the three
dimensional evolution of an injected dye patch using airborne LIDAR.
We believe
that this may be the only sampling technique that can resolve "rapid" processes
in the mixed layer and pycnocline that vary on space and
time scales from meters to kilometers and
hours to days. Such motions are of considerable importance to the
ecology and chemistry of the coastal ocean.

Evolution
of a dye streak in the surface water off Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, May 2004, observed from the air with a LIDAR system

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